


Mark

by LittleMissLiesmith



Series: The Better The Lives We Lead [4]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Aversion to touch, F/M, Kissing, Minor intimacy, threat of divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 14:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2351099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissLiesmith/pseuds/LittleMissLiesmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the first things Divina noticed was how nicely dressed Mark was.</p><p>One of the first things she noticed after beginning to date him was how overdressed he was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mark

**Author's Note:**

> Minor HoM subplot spoilers, but then, every plot's a subplot.

One of the things Divina had noticed about Mark when she was watching from a distance was that he was always very well-dressed. Suits and ties, jackets, sweater vests over long-sleeved button-downs, silk gloves, pressed trousers, wool coats, neat darkly-coloured scarves, boots or loafers.

One of the things Divina began to notice about Mark after they began tentatively courting was that he was always _overdressed_ and he rarely if ever removed a single layer. They had gone walking on the hottest day of September, nearly ninety degrees, and he had kept on his coat, gloves, and scarf.

They were out for the evening at a restaurant in Night Vale town proper. Not Tourniquet or anything else fancy, just the Edge of Town soda shop run by some guy named Larry Leroy. Very classic, a little kitschy, Mark said it was good, and Divina had a craving for burgers and fries.

Mark was eating his own in a very neat and precise way, cautiously lifting one fry at a time with two fingers, taking small and careful bites of his burger. Divina watched him out of the corner of her eye and when he reached for another, so did she, grabbing his hand in the red plastic basket.

Mark froze instantly and smiled pleasantly at her. “Divina?”

She looked down at their hands and entwined her fingers with his. “You don’t hold my hand unless you’re wearing at least three layers and I’m wearing gloves,” she said.

He worried at his lip, continuing to smile, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “That isn’t true.”

“Yeah, it is. You don’t hold my hand unless we’ve got multiple layers of fabric between us. You don’t touch anywhere other than my hand, either, and once my shoulder, when I was wearing that really heavy coat. I don’t understand—do you not want to date? Are you ace? Because it would totally be fine if you were.”

He shook his head frantically. “No, no, I—I don’t think I am, at least. I might be. But…could you let go?”

Divina complied, then clasped her hands and studied him. “D’you think you can explain what you think is going on?”

Mark fidgeted, adjusting his gloves and tugging at his hair. “I…don’t like being touched. Especially, y’know, skin to skin contact? I just don’t enjoy it. It makes me…edgy.” He looked at her worriedly. “It’s not you, I promise. If you think you’ve done anything wrong you haven’t, I swear, it’s just…the fault lies entirely with me.”

Divina tilted her head, eyes softening. “Mark, it isn’t anyone’s _fault_. Not being comfortable with something is okay. And if at any point you want to try to work through it, you know who to call.” She took a fry and bit it in half as Mark continued to watch her in slight fear.

Finally, she sighed. “We were having fun, weren’t we? Can we get back to that?”

Mark smiled gratefully at her. “Sure.”

-O-

_Divina?_

**Yeah?**

_You said something last week about working through my…stuff._

**I seem to recall that conversation.**

_Can we do that now?_

-O-

Divina pulled her bike up to Mark’s house—well, mansion—and hopped off, heading in the open door. “Mr. Vanston?”

“Divina, how many times have I told you to call me Marcus?” The man himself emerged from the kitchen holding a carton of ice cream and a spoon, his robe for once closed.

“Sorry.” She looked at the carton and back up at him. “Erm…”

Marcus clutched it protectively to himself. “It’s not a good time for me. Mark’s upstairs.”

Divina shrugged and ran up the staircase, bounding into Mark’s bedroom. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, the usual layers of clothing shielding him from the world. “Mark?”

Mark looked up from his lap. “Hey, Div.” His voice was hoarse, as if he had been crying.

“…what’s up? Your dad’s downstairs eating fudge brownie ice cream out of the carton and that’s never really a good sign.” She sat on the edge of the bed, putting her weight on one hand and leaning in.

“…Father and Dad had a fight today.” He wrung his hands and buried his face in one. “And Father left. I don’t know where he went.”

“Are you okay? I mean, aside from the obvious.” She moved a little closer and Mark didn’t move away.

“…no.” He stared at his hands. “I…can you help?” he asked, not elaborating or seeming to want to.

Divina understood anyway and edged even closer until she was sitting a few inches away. She took one of his hands and removed the glove, rubbing at his palm. “Like that?”

He closed his eyes, clearly ill at ease, but nodded anyway.

“If you’re not comfortable with this…”

“No, keep going.” He removed his other glove, wiggling his fingers out and tugging it off with his teeth, then moved his other hand on top of Divina’s. “It’s…nice.” He sounded rather surprised.

“That’s what human contact does,” she murmured. “You can dislike it all you want, but it’s hardwired into our systems. How do you deal with Marcus?”

“Er…it’s awkward.” He laughed a little. “Not really comfortable with his general level of clothing.”

“Netiher am I. I don’t actually think anyone is.” She laughed a little and moved closer; Mark barely flinched. “I’m going to take your coat off, m’kay?”

“Okay.” He sat very still as she edged the wool coat of his shoulders, revealing a neat blue sweater vest and button-down shirt.

“Boots?”

“Okay.”

Boots off. “Scarf?”

“Okay.”

Scarf off. “You haven’t actually kissed me yet.”

Mark tensed a little, then nodded, eyes still shut tight. “Right.”

“May I?”

Another very small nod. Divina braced her hands on either side of him and leaned in for a kiss.

After a moment, Mark melted into the touch, pulling Divina closer by the waist, tugging her gently upward to decrease the height difference.

Divina broke apart first, resting her head on his shoulder. “Are you gonna be okay?”

He thought for a second, wrapping his arms around her. “I hope so. I hope Father’ll be back soon, but…I don’t know. Stay here? For a little while?”

“Sure,” Divina muttered.

The two took a moment to maneuver so they were seated against the headboard, Divina half-leaning on Mark and Mark rubbing her neck with the back of his hand. “This is…nice,” he said quietly after a minute. “Why didn’t I try it before?”

“Because you didn’t think to.” She smiled a little and nuzzled his neck. “I’ll stay as long as you like.”

His arms tightened. “Please do.”

Divina nodded and wrapped around his torso, smiling as she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured sleepily. “I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

The last thing she heard before falling asleep was Mark’s quiet “I hope you’re right.”

**Author's Note:**

> See the main story for permissions and blogs.


End file.
